Outlet valve and operating mechanism



Sept. 30, 1941.

v. WILLOUGHBY OUTLET VALVE AND OPERATING MECHANISM Filed June 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INYENTOR Vzciar h/zllau BY W? iiiii iivilifu v. 7mm. '1.-

V. WILLOUGHBY OUTLET VALVE AND OPERATING MECHANISM Filed June 29, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Vigor Willou ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 30, 1941 OUTLET VALVE AND OPERATING MECHANISM Victor Willoughby, Ridgewood, N. 3., assignor t American Car and Foundry Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application June 29, 1933, Serial No. 216,451

12 Claims. (Cl. 137-21) This invention relates to valves in general and in particular to outlet valves for use on railway tanks or other large vessels.

In the past valves have been constructed for railway tank cars with the valve s0 related to the operating mechanism as to permit a slight breathing of the tank due to temperature changes, surges, etc., but these valves have often developed leaks or it has'been possible for unauthorized persons to lift the valve from its seat and remove part or all or the liquid cargo. It is an object, therefore, of the present invention to provide an outlet valve which is resiliently held upon the valve seat to permit the so-called breathing of the tank, yet which cannot be forced to an open position by unauthorized persons.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an outlet valve having a double seal with the sealing surfaces so related as to prevent passage of liquid cargo, unless the operating mechanism has been moved by a person authorized to do so.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of an outlet valve and operating mechanism with the parts so related as to permit only a definite predetermined vertical movement of the valve independently of the operation of the operating mechanism.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent to persons skilled in the art from a study of the following description and accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a partial sectional View showing the valve applied to a tank car;

Fi 2 is an enlarged sectional view similar to Figure 1, but showing the valve in open position;

Fig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2 with the valve in closed position;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged partial sectional view similar to Fig, 3 and showing the position of the valve if its movement has been attempted by unauthorized persons;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on line 5-5 of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view takensubstantially on line 66 of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the valve and its operating mechanism have been illustrated as applied to a more or less conventional tank formed by a shell 2 to which is attached the conventional surge dome 4 at the upper portion and the conventional outlet casting 6 at the lower portion beneath the dome. The dome is, of course, provided with the customary manhole 8 through which access may be t Web portion. This bracket which, in the present instance, is of substantially inverted U form, having lower flanges I 2 secured to the shell extension and having legs M directed upwardly to be connected at their upper ends by the web portion IS. The web por- ;tion is provided with an enlarged opening l8, while the legs of the U-shaped support are joined together by a plate 20 having a rectangular opening 22 formed therein substantially in vertical alignment with the center of the opening in the rectangular opening adapted to receive a similarshaped rectangular portion 24 formed intermediate the ends of a valve operating rod,'having a lower portion 25 and an upper threaded portion 28. The lower extremity of the operating rod is flattened as at 3!] and provided with an opening through which a bolt or other securing means 32 may be inserted for attachment of the valve, later to be described. Th upper or threaded end of the operating rod is provided with an opening adapted to receive a bowl-like member 38, having an outer rim 39' terminating at its upper edge in a widened portion formed with a recessed area 40 adapted to' receive a washer or other means 42. A projection 44 is provided substantially at the center of the bowl-like member and this projection is formed with a bore i6 internally threaded to cooperate with the threads formed on the operating rod previously referred to. 'The projection is also formed adjacent its upper end with one or more lugs 48 extending outwardly therefrom toward the rim of the bowl. In the present instance the lugs are two in number and each formed to occupy approximately one fourth of the area between the projection and the rim of the bowl-like member. In order to constantly urge the bowlglike member and operating rod downwardly, a

spring or other resilient means 50 is provided having the lower end bearing upon the washer 42, while the upper end bears upon the under surface of the'web l6, and this spring is so proportioned as to go solid after a predetermined upward movement of the bowl-like member. The bowl-like member, in the present instance, is adapted to be rotated by a hand wheel 52 formed with a lower bearing surface 54 adapted to rest under certain conditions upon the web l6 and is also formed with a centrally located cylindrical sitionwithin the spring and bowl.

' handfwheellowered into position, a slight rota- 1 tion thereof willengage the lugs 58 beneath the lugs 48 of the bowl member-and insertion of the a locking bolts E will prevent'thewremoval of the into the bowl-like member, the lugs 58 will pass down between the lugs of thebowl member, after which a quarter turn of the hand wheel will place the lugs 58 beneath the lugs 48 and that their r movement from this position may be prevented by any suitable securing means, such as plain end bolts 68, extending upwardly through the base of the bowl-like member into the path of movement of the lugs 58. r V

The valve in the present instance is formed by an upper member 62, having upwardly projecting ears 64 adapted to embrace the flattened end of the operating rod and be secured thereto by the bolt or other means 32 previously referred to.

' The rim'of this! upper memberis'g'round to provide a valve'seat 65 adapted to cooperate with V a ground valve body seat 68 formed on or attached toithe outlet castingQ Adjacent the rim of the upper valve member an annular projection 1 0 is formed extending downwardly and provided on its outer lower edge with a. recess #2 adapted to receive an auxiliary sealing memher 16. This sealing member is preferably made of'some resilient or'flexible material, having an upwardly directed flange I6 and formed with a groove'ld' therebeneath in order to provide a plurality of sealing surfaces for cooperation with 'the bore of the outlet casting as clearly shown in Fig. 4; In order to clamp the auxiliary seal ring member in position a lower valve member is provided formed with guiding wings '88and a flat upper surface adapted to engage the sealing ,l'member. This lower valves-member is held in position by means ofbolt 82 threaded into the upper valve "memberand locked against movement relative thereto by a pin 8d and extending downwardly. through thelower valve member to receive a nut. 8.6; by means of. which the lower 7 member maybe drawn. toward the upper member; thus clamping theauxiliary sealing member inxposition. I a The valve and operating operating rod upwardly through the rectangular 'opening' '22:, after which thebowl-like member maybe threadedon the upper endfof the operating rod and the nut 36 screwed into position .andrlocked to retain. the bowl. against removal and 3180 110.: provide a check preventing excessive rotation oftherbowlf The spring may now be placed in position and the hand wheel with its integral cylindrical projection lowered'into po- With the hand .wheeL'while at the same time insuring rotation of ;the hand'wheel and bowl substantially in unison; The valve may be attached tothe operating r'od'at any time subsequent toinser tion" of the rod through the opening 22 as is V obvious f ltis to be noted' that with the valve and operating mechanism assembled a' clearance CQ is provided; between thehand. wheel and the mechanism are read- 7 ily assembled withi'n the' tank by passing the web of the support when the valve is closed and the bowl jammed against the retaining nut 35, preventing further rotation of the hand wheel in a valve closing direction (Fig. 3) With the valve in this fully closed position the spring is under a certain compression suflicient to insure the seating of the valve, but has not been forced solid, therefore, there is a clearance between the hand wheel and the upper surface of the web as well as between the bowl and the lower surface of the web, the latter being due to the spaces between coils of the spring. It will thus be seen that relative vertical movement may be had between the support and the valve operating mechanism when the valve is in closed position. The spacing between the ground valve seat 6S and. the sealing member M is slightly greater 'thanthe sum of the clearances available in the operating mechanism, thus preventing under any circumstance an opening of the valve independently of the operating mechanism (Fig.

The operation of the valve is as follows,las-l suming the valve in closed position as shown in Figs, 1 and 3: A rotation of the hand wheel in valve opening direction first causes a lowering of the hand wheel into engagement with the top surface of the web, after'which this will serve as a reactionpointand cause lifting of the operating rod pulling the valve out of the outlet casting and permitting discharge of liquid cargo.

from the tank (Fig. 2) Reverse operation of the hand wheel will cause the rod to be lowered due to'the thrust of the compression spring which will, under most circumstances, force the valve into position into the outlet casting. If for any reason an obstruction is present preventing at least the auxiliary seal from entering the outlet casting, the spring will go solid forming a reaction point and permitting pressure to be applied to forcelthe seal into. the outlet casting, at least until the projection of the bowl member comes into engagement with the nut 36;,;which will prevent further rotation of the hand wheel. 7 Under normal operation, however, the spring is 7 always suflicientto. returnthe valve to its seated position and the parts will then assume the positions shown in Fig. 3 in which further rotation of the'handwheel in: a valve seating direction is prevented, while clearances are provided per-' mitting relative movement'between the support and operating mechanism without any movement of the valve. In case an unauthorized person attempts to remove cargo from the tank by in.- sertion of a rod'in the outlet'casting and lifting the valve, such unauthorizedhremoval will be,

prevented since the spring will go solid with all clearances taken up prior to the time of the removal of the auxiliary seal from the outlet casting (see Fig; 4-) It will be obvious that the auxiliary seal, dueto its peculiar form, will act 7 V in a manner similar to a pump cup" in that increased pressure will increase the seal, thus preventing any discharge of cargo if the valve is lifted or if any slight leakage, occurs at the ground valve surfaces; 7

While the invention has been described more or less in detail, it is obvious that various modifications; rearrangements and reproportioning oil parts will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art and all such modifications rearrange:

'ments and reproportioning of parts are contemplated as fall within-thescope of the following What is claimed is:

1. A discharge valve assembly for a tank comprising, a valve body secured to the tank, a valve having sealing portions spaced apart in the direction of movement of said valve for cooperation with the valve body, a valve rod connected to the valve, a supporting bracket carried by the tank, valve control mechanism connected to the valve rod and supported by said bracket and rod, said mechanism comprising a bowl-like member threaded upon said rod, a hand wheel connected to said member to rotate the same and guided by said supporting bracket, and a coil spring interposed between said bracket and bowl-like member, said spring permitting a predetermined vertical movement betweensaid bowl-like member and bracket.

2. A discharge valve assembly for a tank comprising, a valve body secured to the tank, a valve having sealing portions spaced apart in the direction of movement of the valve for cooperation with the valve body, a valve rod connected to the valve, a supporting bracket carried by the tank, valve control mechanism connected to the valve rod and supported by said bracket and rod, said mechanism comprising a bowl-like member threaded upon said rod, a hand Wheel connected to said member to rotate the same and guided by said supporting bracket, and a coil spring interposed between said bracket and bowl-like member, said spring permitting a predetermined vertical movement between said bowl-like member and bracket, and said permissive vertical movement being less than the spacing of said sealing portions of the valve whereby said valve when closed cannot be opened except by the control mechanism.

3. A discharge valve mechanism for a tank including a valve and valve seat, said valve having spaced sealing surfaces movable consecutively out of engagement with said seat, a reciprocable valve operating rod, a spring cooperating with said operating rod normally seating said valve, said rod and valve being shiftable to unseat only one of said sealing surfaces from said valve seat against the tension of said spring, actuating means for unseating all of the sealing means from said seat to open said valve independently of the spring tension, and means independent of the tank structure for limiting the movement of said actuating means.

4. A discharge valve mechanism for a tank comprising a valve and Valve seat, said valve having spaced seating surfaces movable in sequence out of engagement with said seat, a valve actuating rod, spring means cooperating with said operating rod to normally seat said valve, said actuating rod and valve being vertically shiftable under control of the spring means to move only one of the seating surfaces out of engagement with the valve seat, means for positively actuating said rod irrespective of the tension of said spring to open said valve and means independent of the tank for limiting the movement of the positive actuating means in one direction.

5. A discharge valve mechanism for a tank comprising a valve and valve seat, said valve having spaced seating surfaces movable in sequence out of engagement with said seat, a valve actuating rod, a cup threaded on the upper end of said rod, said cup being formed with an upwardly facing annular recess, a coiled spring seating in said recess and abutting an adjacent tank wall portion, said rod and cup being vertically shiftable against said spring'to unseat one of said seating surfaces, an operating wheel having a depending cylindrical portion housing the upper end of said rod and extending into and operably engaging said cup, said operating wheel having a bearing portion for engagement with an adjacent tank wall for limiting the movement of the same whereby a reactance point is established to create thrust for positive movement of the valve in one direction, said cylindrical por tion of the operating wheel being closed atits upper end and operating to limit said positive movement in the one direction.

6. A discharge valve mechanism for a tank car including a valve and a valve seat, an operating rod for said valve, a cup shaped member threaded on the upper end of said valve rod, a coiled spring interposed between said cup and an adjacent wall portion of said tank to normally urge said valve on its seat, a hand wheel having a cylindrical extension cooperating with said cup to provide a housing for the threaded end of the operating rod, means for locking said cylindrical extension and cup together whereby the rotation of said hand wheel will shift said cup on the threaded end of said rod for movement of said valve, means for securing the hand wheel against axial movement with respect to said rod at a predetermined point during opening of said valve, and additional means for securing said hand wheel against axial movement relative to the rod at a predetermined point during closing of said valve, said last named means and additional means being so formed and arranged as to permit at all times limited vertical movement of said rod and hand wheel relative to said tank.

'7. A discharge valve assembly for a tank comprising, a valve body including valve seating portions carried by the tank, a valve having sealing portions spaced apart in the direction of movement of the valve for cooperation with said seat-- ing portions, a valve rod connected to said valve and extending through a wall fixed to said tank, said valve being shiftable by movement of said valve rod to remove the sealing portions from their respective seats in sequence, coil spring means for retaining said sealing means in contact with the valve seating portions, the sum of the spaces between the coils of the spring being less than the spacings of the sealing portions of the valve whereby at least one sealing portion of the valve will remain in engagement with its seat upon compression of the spring, and means for shifting the valve rod after said spring has gone solid whereby both sealing portions may be removed from their seat for discharging the contents of said tank car.

3. A discharge valve assembly for a tank comprising, a valve body connected to said tank and including a valve seating portion, a valve having sealing portions spaced apart in the direction of movement of the valve for cooperating with the said body seating portion, a valve rod connected to the valve and extending through a wall fixed to the tank body, said rod being shiftable to move said valve between open and closed position, a spring supporting member on said valve rod at one side of said wall portion, a compression spring between said support and said wall portion for retaining said valve sealing portions in cooperation with said valve seat, the sum of the spaces between the coils of said springs being less than the spacing of said sealing portions of said valve whereby at least one sealing portion of said valve will remain in engagement with said seat 'upon compression of. said spring, and

means carried by'the valve rod for moving the latter with respect to the spring supporting member for moving the valve sealing portions from the'seat after compression of said spring.

9.4 A discharge valve assembly for a tank comprising, a valve body'connected tosaid tank and including a valve seating portion, avalve having sealing portions spaced apart in the direction of movementof the valve for cooperating with the s'aid'body seating portion, a valve rodconnected tonthe valve and extending through a bracket fixed to the tank body, said rod being shiftable to move 'said valve between'open and closed position,'a spring supported member on said valve rod positioned below said bracket, a compression spring between said support and said bracket forretaining said valve sealing portions in cooperationwith said valveseat, a valve actuating whereby said sealing members may be shifted from their seat for discharging lading from said tank.

IONA valve discharge mechanism for a tank including a valve body having a seating portion carried by said tank, a valve for cooperation with said valve seat, a Valve rod, a bracket carriedby'said tank, a portion of said bracket engaging 'said :rod to prevent rotation thereof, a spring support threadedv on said valve rod, a spring'interposed between said spring support andsaid'bracket for holding said valve in closed position on itssea't, said rod and valve being 11. A valve discharge mechanism for a tank including a valve body having a seatin portion carried by said tank, a valve for cooperation with said valve seat, a valve rod, a bracket carried by said tank, a portion of said bracket engaging.

said rod to prevent rotation thereof, a spring support threaded on said valve rod, a spring interposed between said spring support and said bracket for holding said valve in closed position,

on its seat, said valve being normally movable against said spring for partial movement of said valve, stop means for engaging the spring support to limit the opening movement of said valve against said spring and means for rotating said spring support after its engagement with said stop means to shift said valve rod to move said valve to fully openposition.

' 12. A discharge valve assembly for a tank including a valve body secured to thetank, a valve having sealing portions spaced apart in the direction of movement of said valve, a valve rod connected to the valve, a supporting bracket carried by the tank, a valve control mechanism connected tothevalve rod including elements spaced above and below said bracket, said control mechanismincluding a spring support in threaded,

engagement with said rod below said bracket, a coiled spring interposed between the spring support and bracket, a. collar carried by a hand wheel, said collar being detachably'connected with said spring support to rotate same on said valverod, whereby said valve rod may be elevated to unseat said valve by continued rotation or;

said spring supportafter compression of said springbetween said spring support and said br cke V ,7 VICTOR W'ILLOUGHBY. 

